Oley Township Scraps $52,706 Main Street Speed Tables

Oley Township's Main Street repaving will go ahead without speed tables, and the township's homepage now says Main Street will close during daytime work hours from Water Street north to the Route 662 intersection from Oct. 19 through Oct. 23, weather permitting, for the paving. The Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 on Sept. 10 to tell the township engineer, LTL Consultants, that no speed tables will be installed as part of the Main Street Road Project and to have the contractor remove that cost, $52,705.90, from the bid, according to the minutes of the meeting, which the township posted Oct. 13. A speed table is a flat-topped speed hump wide enough for a car to roll over rather than bump across; the minutes do not define the term.

Jeffrey Spatz, the board's chairman, made the motion and Zachary Wagner seconded it; Spatz, Lisa Schaeffer and Wagner all voted yes. Spatz said he did not feel speed tables on Main Street would be effective because there are only three places they could go, the minutes say. Schaeffer said they would be a problem for emergency vehicles and road maintenance equipment, that speeds have come down, and that once paving is done the township could ask police to patrol the stretch more often and perhaps add an officer during rush hour. Wagner agreed the tables were not needed.

The police report for August listed 167 calls and a three-hour speed detail at three locations. The road report said the Yoder Road bridge project is complete and the road reopened Aug. 26; the bridge's weight limit "will remain at fourteen tons/twenty-two tons combination," and a post-repair inspection is still needed to clear it from a Priority 1 maintenance notification.

Health premiums up 7.79%, decision deferred

The board reviewed renewal options for the employee health plan. Premiums for the current plan are rising 7.79%, the minutes say, and the board put off choosing a renewal plan until its next meeting. The minutes do not give the dollar cost.

The board also authorized the chief administrative officer to sign the worksheets for the 2027 minimum municipal obligations for the non-uniformed employees' pension plan and the police pension plan. The minimum municipal obligation is the yearly contribution state law requires a municipality to make to each pension plan. The minutes do not state the amounts. Anyone who wants them can ask the township office or file a Right-to-Know request.

Budget requests and contribution requests from organizations for 2027 had to reach the secretary/treasurer by Oct. 1 to be considered.

Farmland, quarry and a private lane

After a short public hearing, the board adopted Resolution #675-26 adding the Renate Witthaut property, which the minutes describe as located in Exeter Township and Lower Alsace Township, to the Oley Township Agricultural Security Area. Lower Alsace Township had sent a resolution approving the inclusion. The minutes do not explain the program; in general terms, an agricultural security area is a state-recognized farmland zone that gives enrolled land certain protections from local nuisance rules and from condemnation.

A letter from Akens Engineering Associates said the state Department of Environmental Protection will receive an application from Heidelberg Materials US Cement, LLC for a "large noncoal surface mine permit – major modification." Spatz said he was informed that a company the minutes call New Enterprises will take over the quarrying operation and do the work for Heidelberg Materials. Wagner said the permit is being reduced by 3.66 acres, to 176.53 acres. Spatz will contact Noah Hish to ask whether any of the property has been or will be subdivided.

John Hughes asked the board about Meeting House Lane, a private road that customers of the Inn on Main are using, on GPS directions, to reach the parking lot behind the inn. He said the county mapping office told him the lane was changed to a public road in its system during the 1994 reassessment, while his deed lists it as private. Solicitor Kenneth Picardi called it "a very complicated situation" that the property owners would need their own lawyer to sort out. The board voted 3-0 to send Berks County a letter stating that Meeting House Lane and the unnamed alley are not owned or maintained by the township and that the township collects no liquid fuels money for them. Spatz said he would contact the inn's owner, Rob Adams, as well as Rep. David Maloney and Sen. Judith Schwank, and would check the minimum parking required for the business and its three apartments.

Historic district: three certificates, one compromise

The Historical Architectural Review Board, or HARB, reviews exterior changes in the township's historic district and recommends whether supervisors should issue a certificate of appropriateness. The board issued three:

• 653 Main Street (Brandon and Samantha Welch): replace 19 windows with the Viwinco Cambridge line, six-over-six with simulated divided light, no aluminum flashing, wood frames repaired or replaced like-in-kind. Spatz noted the windows will be vinyl with the muntins on the outside.
• 2018 Memorial Highway (Eric Hoover; Raymond Zimmerman, owner): HARB had recommended denial because the proposed vinyl siding on a house addition was not an appropriate material, and said the applicant had priced composite siding at double the cost of vinyl. Spatz said more composite options exist today, and Schaeffer called composite on the house addition a compromise. The board issued the certificate for the house addition with composite siding, windows and back door matching the existing ones, and a piggery addition with vinyl siding as proposed, a paneled man door and an overhead metal garage door. Hoover said the piggery will be a garage and he would reuse its stone wall.
• 200 Hoch Road (Berks Fire Water Restorations; Carol Feich, owner): full removal of the front porch, damaged in a motor vehicle accident.

Separately, engineer Jessica Adams said two new homes at 423 and 427 Hunter Road had not been reviewed by HARB, that she was unaware new construction needed that review, and that no permits can be issued for either home until a certificate is issued.

Hunter Road lots: street trees, stormwater, a mailbox

For the Carter P. Reese two-lot subdivision on Hunter Road, approved in 2001, the board granted a partial waiver of the street-tree rule for 427 Hunter Road (Lot 1), requiring three trees instead of the full count, and denied the waiver for 423 Hunter Road (Lot 2), requiring five trees. Adams said sight-line and sewage-area limits on Lot 1 left room for three trees; the trees must be planted before an occupancy permit is issued. The board authorized the chairman and secretary to sign stormwater operations and maintenance agreements with Hearthstone Homes, Inc. for 423 Hunter Road and with George Walter and Mary Jo Longan for 427 Hunter Road.

Nick Angstadt of 428 Hunter Road complained about a handwritten note left in his mailbox saying the township wants it moved to make room for the 427 Hunter Road driveway; he said the mailbox has stood for 54 years and was made by his grandfather. Picardi said the driveway is on a recorded plan and recommended the lot's owner pay all relocation costs. Angstadt said he could agree so long as the mailbox is not harmed and the owner pays.

Other spending and actions

• Lee Tree Care will trim sycamore trees on Friedensburg Road between Route 73 and Main Street for $4,250, with traffic control and notice to residents.
• Kantner's Tire Service will supply and install tires on the New Holland tractor for $5,970; Ray's Tire Services had quoted $6,500.42.
• $975 for traffic cones from Stoney Creek Rental for the fire police special services unit, paid from the Fire Fund, replacing cones that are not DOT compliant. The fire chief reported 22 calls in August; the ambulance chief reported 90.
• Resolution #674-26 approved a right-of-way use agreement with Windstream Conestoga, Inc. Picardi said he could not get Windstream to agree to an annual increase in compensation, and that because of the type of service it provides, the company would not be required to have such an agreement at all. Donna Ott asked whether customers can choose a copper line over fiber; Picardi said federal rules require the company, to the best of its ability, to provide copper to those who request it.
• The board authorized the solicitor to prepare a civil complaint over multiple vehicles displayed for sale in the front yard at 65 Clay Slate Road. A separate case at 80 Mine Lane closed after the township won a $1,000 judgment on a civil complaint and the fine was paid.
• Artificial intelligence software: Spatz said Perplexity for government would cost $1,200 to $1,500 a year for four users, a government version of Claude also exists, and the township already has a basic version of Copilot through Microsoft Office 365; Copilot Pro would add $31.50 per person per month with a one-year commitment. Wagner and Schaeffer were not sure there are enough users to justify the cost, and Spatz suggested tabling the question until budget time.
• Spatz said he met with the owners of the Sacred Oak property and believes an agreement can be reached to allow public access to the tree again.
• Denise Pinter of 433 Main Street asked the township to fix the wall in front of her home; the minutes note that Section 21-202.1 of the township code makes sidewalk and curb wall repair the property owner's responsibility.

Halloween road closures

The Oley Fire Company's Halloween Parade is Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. The eastbound lane of Main Street from Friedensburg Road to Oley Furnace Road and the southbound lane of Water Street from Main Street to Lake Road close at noon, making each one-way, with no parking on Main Street between Jefferson and Water streets from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Trick-or-treat night is Saturday, Oct. 31, from 6 to 8 p.m.; Main Street closes at Friedensburg Road and Jefferson Street from 6 to 8:30 p.m., with no parking on that stretch from 5 to 9 p.m. The board also approved an Oley Valley Community Education Foundation 5K run/walk on Nov. 28 at 9 a.m., starting and ending at Oley Valley High School; Schaeffer said she sits on the foundation's board but gets no financial benefit.

The Municipal Authority, a separate body

The Oley Township Municipal Authority, which runs the township's water and sewer systems and has its own board, met Sept. 3. According to its minutes, it hired Cherry Bekaert to audit the authority for 2026 at a cost not to exceed $13,500. Engineer Kim Mazur said Earl Township wanted to meet with the authority on Oct. 1 about a potential sewer project and an Act 537 plan update; Earl's own board has been busy this fall with its landfill host agreement. Mazur also said an LSA state grant application for painting and upgrading water storage tank No. 1 was complete. The board heard that a fire hydrant behind Oley Valley High School was shut down May 29 after a valve stuck open during a training demonstration and was replaced June 10 as an emergency repair.

What happens next

The supervisors' next regular meeting was set for Oct. 12; minutes from it were not posted when this story was written, so the health plan decision and any further Main Street news will have to wait for them. Our guide explains how to find any Berks municipality's meeting schedule, and how Berks County government works covers what townships handle.